American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Posted on
February 11, 2014 | Updated on June 27, 2014

Political leanings:Democratic/liberal

Spending target: Unknown

AFSCME is a labor union that represents more than 1.6 million public sector employees and retirees, including health care workers, corrections officers and sanitation workers. It has been politically active on the national level on such issues as expanding health care, protecting pension benefits, raising minimum wage standards, preventing the privatization of government jobs and extending unemployment benefits. It is one of the most powerful groups in Washington and promises to be a major player in the 2014 elections.

The labor union was reportedly one of the first to take advantage of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling early in 2010 allowing unions and corporations to directly finance ads that expressly call for the election or defeat of a candidate. Until that court decision, unions and corporations had to use political action committees for “express advocacy ads” and such PACs were limited to accepting no more than $5,000 per year from any one individual.

In 2012, the union spent heavily — $2.7 million — to prevent Mitt Romney from being elected president. This opposition began even before Romney won the Republican nomination, as AFSCME ran a potentially misleading ad in the Florida primary. We wrote about that ad in “Liberal Union Joins Attack on Romney in Florida.”

For the 2014 election cycle, AFSCME has thus far spent almost $965,000 in independent expenditures, all of which went to oppose Michigan Republican Terri Lynn Land in the Senate race for the seat of retiring Democrat, Carl Levin.

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